


the storm before the calm

by orphan_account



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, M/M, endgame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-30 22:50:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10886547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's the night before the end, and Noct and Ignis share one last dance.





	the storm before the calm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [explodingnebulae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/explodingnebulae/gifts).



> a while back i was talking to a friend about ignis teaching noct to slow dance and they sent me [this gif](http://ravitae.tumblr.com/post/157747269898/ignoct-may-i-ask-for-one-last-dance) that fucked me up good and i decided it'd be a good idea to write a fic about it /rip
> 
> i've been listening to [Noctis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uiupfxPvZY) and [What Lies Within](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t3c0HnimGw) on repeat for like 2 weeks now and if u don't think either of those would make a+ waltzes then idk what to tell u
> 
> (the title is from john mayer's Slow Dancing In A Burning Room because Pain and Suffering is cool)
>
>> written for the [fandom writing challenge](http://fandomwritingchallenge.tumblr.com) may 2017 'random' prompt "midnight"

_Ten years._

_How time flies._

Noct rubs a hand over his face and sighs. He feels heavy, like invisible strings are tying his limbs down, dragging concrete weights behind him when he moves, and he just wants to sleep.

_Because ten years wasn’t long enough._

He smiles wryly to himself at the thought and looks out at the pitch-black sky, void of the deep blue and purple hues usually reflected through the atmosphere at midnight, void of clouds, void of stars.

He misses the stars the most, the constellations always reliably there when he looked, guiding him home when he was lost. It’s ironic, he thinks, how grounded he felt looking up at the sky.

A warm presence comes up beside him, and Noct leans against Ignis, still staring out into the darkness that has swallowed his home. “I miss the stars,” he says, voice soft, intimate.

Ignis’s hand comes up to caress his cheek, and Noct leans into it. “I miss them, too,” Ignis says, just as soft. “But I miss seeing you more.”

Noct bites his lip on an apology; it’s been ten years, after all. There wasn’t anything he could do.

The familiar, bitter feeling of helplessness from that time rears its head, and Noct turns to face Ignis as he shoves it away. Instead of letting it overcome him, he wraps his arms around Ignis and buries his face in Ignis’s neck. Ignis’s arms wrap around him in turn, holding onto him tightly, and Noct feels Ignis press his nose into his hair at his temple. They stand quietly at the edge of the campsite, breathing in tandem, holding one another close like they haven’t for ten years. Noct missed this more than anything during his period of reflection inside the crystal: Ignis’s warmth and Ignis’s arms and the smell of cinnamon on Ignis’s clothes and _Ignis._

He doesn’t even realize they’ve started swaying gently until Ignis begins humming softly, a lullaby waltz that Noct remembers listening to him play on the piano in the early hours of the morning at the Citadel before everyone else was up. It makes him smile sadly.

“Do you remember the first time you tried to teach me how to waltz?” he asks, and Ignis hums in affirmation in time with the lullaby.

“Indeed,” he says, and their next sway is more intentional, pulling them into a more proper hold for a waltz. “You were terrible.”

“Hey!” Noct protests with a laugh, but he falls easily into the turn Ignis leads them in. “I wasn’t _that_ bad, was I?”

“You slouched too much,” Ignis counters, smirking, “and you tripped over your own feet.” He takes a step and Noct easily follows, movement fluid. “For someone so graceful in combat, I was appalled at your utter lack of coordination on the dance floor.”

Noct huffs in mock petulance but is unable to hold back his grin as Ignis spins them properly before settling them into familiar steps. “Maybe you were just a terrible teacher,” he teases, words contradicting the smooth way they glide over the rocky campground, the ease and naturalness indicative of years of tutelage. He learned from the best.

“Maybe you just needed a partner instead of an instructor,” Ignis muses, voice tender and breath ghosting over Noct’s cheek as Ignis whispers the words in his ear. Their hands find their places on shoulder and waist and clasped together, and they dance to a melody heard only in their memories.

They don’t stray too far from their corner of the camp, the fire burning behind them where Prompto and Gladio are having a hushed conversation. Noct keeps his eyes on Ignis’s face, the deep scarring over his left eye, how his right eye, despite being blind as well, seems to be looking right back at Noct. He reaches up and gently traces Ignis’s cheek with his fingers, thumb caressing feather-light beneath Ignis’s protective eyewear. Ignis turns his head to leave a kiss on his palm, and Noct cups his head to bring him forward to kiss him for real, never once losing their rhythm.

A rhythm they haven’t shared for ten years, and a rhythm they won’t have come the dawn they’re fighting so desperately to bring back.

He kisses Ignis harder, desperate and urgent, and he’s eternally grateful when Ignis simply brushes his tears away without comment.

When they pull apart, Ignis touches their foreheads together, and Noct closes his eyes to savor the feeling.

“We should sleep,” Ignis murmurs, but he makes no move to pull away. Noct holds on tighter anyway. “You need your rest if you’re to face Ardyn properly.”

“Yeah,” Noct agrees, reluctant and tired. “Yeah, you’re right.”

They still don’t move, standing so close they’re almost one person, one entity, and Noct never wants this moment to end. He wants to stay here, even in the darkness, even without the stars, even if the world never sees the light again, if it means he and Ignis can stay together.

Oh, but what kind of King would trade his kingdom for one man, one soul?

Heavy is the head that wears a crown, Noct thinks, but heavier still is the heart that loves what it cannot have.

Noct stays where he is for a moment longer, breathing in the smell of cinnamon and Ignis’s cologne, feeling the warmth radiating from Ignis’s body, Ignis’s soft breaths on his face, before he tangles their fingers and pulls Ignis with him back to the fire. Prompto and Gladio look up from where their heads are bowed together, and they all share a silent moment of solidarity and camaraderie as the fire crackles in the dark.

_What can I say?_

He looks at his friends, his companions, his brothers, his most important people, and Noct squeezes Ignis’s hand.

_You guys are the best._

**Author's Note:**

> y'all this is like the third angsty fic i've written in as many months what is happening to me where has all my fluff gone
> 
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> [tumblr](http://caaelum.tumblr.com)


End file.
